Dietician Susan Brewer, from the University Of Illinois College Of Agricultural Sciences, has suggested that babies need a lot of omega 3 fatty acids that are commonly found in fish for development of brain, eye, and nerve when they switch from breast milk to solid food.
Brewer said food preferences of children are largely developed by the time they attain the age of five years and urged parents to help their children develop a taste for seafood early.
From Timesofindia.indiatimes.com:
Fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, have huge health benefits and help to prevent coronary artery disease, but most adults don’t eat fish twice weekly as experts recommend, reports the Journal of Food Science .
“Fish-based baby foods, common in Asian markets, have been marketed successfully in the United Kingdom and Italy,” Brewer said, according to a University of Illinois statement.
Brewer collaborated with former University of Illinois professor Peter Bechtel, now of Alaska’s Agricultural Research Service, in the effort to create a viable product, using salmon.
She has experimented with both pink and red salmon, finding that red salmon survives the baby food production process better.
And, to boost nutrition, in separate experiments she has added bone meal and pureed salmon roe (eggs) to her entrees.
The first ingredient (made by grinding the bones in the salmon into a powder) provides calcium in a form that is readily available for bone building in children.
The second provides high-quality protein and contains significant quantities of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, particularly docohexaenoic acid (DHA). “A newborn infant’s brain is 50 per cent DHA,” she noted.
Brewer also noted that small children who are going to get DHA must ingest it in their food.
Popularity: 2% [?]
